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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24686071">Dim light through the whispers of the night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shichan/pseuds/mugiji'>mugiji (shichan)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Byhardt Week (Fire Emblem), Established Relationship, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Intimacy, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:48:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,426</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24686071</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shichan/pseuds/mugiji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh.” Sylvain tries not to look too surprised but fails “I thought you had already… you know. Experienced some level of intimacy.” “We did.” Byleth confirms as Felix, next to him, almost chokes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Caspar von Bergliez/Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert (mentioned), Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier (implied), Linhardt von Hevring/My Unit | Byleth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>BYHARDT WEEK 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dim light through the whispers of the night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Day 5 of byhardt week!<br/>There is only one way for me to write about intimacy and that's through Byleth being Byleth. <br/>Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The dining hall has few people at this time of the day, most of those who live in the monastery already done with dinner. It’s been a couple of weeks since the last time Byleth had the chance to enjoy his former students’ - who still call him Professor, by the way - company during and after a meal. It’s nothing new if he thinks about their academy days, but after the war most of them followed their own paths and the everyday life they used to share is lost. The only one that stayed is Mercedes, while others come to visit more often than not but… it’s a bit lonely, yet it’s not like it can be helped. To think they are finally able to share such a relaxed atmosphere it’s encouraging— to listen to Ashe and Mercedes sharing stories about their cooking together (and that time they almost set the kitchen on fire), the light and often unconscious humming of Annette, Sylvain and Felix’s bickering. It makes Byleth feel strangely at ease.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There are also times when Byleth spaces out; in the past, it was because he was listening to Sothis’ voice, but now it just happens. The end of the war really changed him in some aspects; it’s so incredible, though, that now their biggest worry is a… wedding. “To think that the first ones to get married would be you and Caspar!” Annette chirps, so happy since the moment Ashe told her that yes, she could help to decorate the place. The blush on Ashe’s face is so obvious, despite his attempt to dissimulate: “It’s unbelievable… I mean, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>told</span>
  </em>
  <span> princ— His Majesty that it didn’t have to be… you know…” “Of course it had to! We have been friends for ages, it’s only right that you can have a big celebration! I’m on our king’s side, in this.” she scolds him, a small pout curving her lips “It </span>
  <em>
    <span>totally</span>
  </em>
  <span> is a big deal, Ashe. Also, we need as many happy occasions as possible!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The shy yet grateful smile Ashe is worth a thousand words. And Byleth silently agrees with Annette: such a joyous occasion is exactly what they need, what they fought for, in a way. They can only hope that this will be the first of many celebrations in the future.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about you, Professor?” Sylvain asks with a friendly wink; Byleth sees how </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span> of them suddenly pay attention to him, like Byleth is about to tell some prophecy, and then remembers that since the end of the war </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> is the Archbishop. “...I already told them they don’t really need my blessing or… whatever the people seem to search for when they visit the church to talk about marriages.” he assures. The reactions are quite different: Mercedes covers her mouth in a very polite gesture with an “oh my” before chuckling; Annette rolls her eyes as if she can’t believe she just heard this; Ashe gives him a smile, looking both embarrassed and something else Byleth doesn’t recognize. Felix just ignores them— Byleth is very grateful for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We meant ‘what about you and Linhardt?’, Professor.” Sylvain clarifies and, well, is it a question regarding marriages—</span>
  <em>
    <span>ah</span>
  </em>
  <span>, something just clicks in his mind. “I mean, you have been together for a while, now.” Sylvain adds, but Byleth thinks that no, not really, not officially. They might have liked each other for a long time but with the five years gap and the war… they didn’t really have the time to talk about it until a few months ago. In a sense, Ashe and Caspar have been together for </span>
  <em>
    <span>ages</span>
  </em>
  <span>, in comparison (and, from what Byleth knows, they did). “And you also made a promise at the tower, didn’t you?” Annette adds enthusiastically. Byleth would like to ask how do they know but, if he doesn’t consider the weapons, the battle simulations, having nobles there and the war… well, he supposes that Garreg Mach </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> an academy and they </span>
  <em>
    <span>were</span>
  </em>
  <span> teenagers. So maybe he shouldn’t be surprised by how fast rumors spread back then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But we didn’t say anything about getting together, at the tower.” Byleth admits because it’s the truth, right? He and Linhardt barely talked about future researches. “No offense, Professor… but you probably did.” Annette can’t help but correct him “Knowing you two, though, Linhardt probably wasn’t exactly clear about it and you didn’t get it. Anyway! You </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> end up together.” she adds, looking at Mercedes for some support. The older woman simply nods and Byleth supposes this is the best help he will get from her— again, thank the Goddess Felix isn’t interested in the conversation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And at the point you two are is not good to make him wait, Professor. Don’t be indecisive.” Sylvain says and, despite his amused voice that Byleth interprets as him making fun of Byleth (not in a mean way, but still)... something sounds off. It would be weird not to ask, so he does. “What point?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a few seconds, it’s like Byleth just used magic to stop even their breathes. Annette and Sylvain share a look, Ashe covers his face like he wants to disappear now that his worst nightmare is becoming a reality. Even Felix stays still. Only Mercedes keeps drinking her warm tea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Sylvain tries not to look too surprised but fails “I thought you had already… you know. Experienced some level of intimacy.” “We did.” Byleth confirms as Felix, next to him, almost chokes. Eyes are on him and Byleth is pretty confused, to be honest. “We sleep in the same room. We didn’t do it before, after all, and we are not sharing the room for dormitory issues. I think it’s a… pretty intimate thing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain sighs. Byleth wants to ask what’s wrong, but Mercedes stands up and puts a hand on Annette’s shoulder, giving her a soft smile “Annie,” she calls her “I think we should leave for now, and let the Professor talk with Sylvain. Would you mind helping with some small preparations for tomorrow morning?” she offers, still smiling. Annette doesn’t seem too convinced, but she would never leave her best friend alone, so she grumbles a bit but joins her nonetheless. The moment they are almost outside of the dining hall, Ashe announces that he’s going to make some tea and quickly disappears in the kitchen. Felix puts his hands on the table, about to stand up as well, but Sylvain stops him by grabbing his arm; not a forceful gesture, but with an eloquent message.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Felix looks at Sylvain’s hand like he could look at a gross bug if he were the kind of person afraid of bugs. “I have no intention to stay here and listen to you asking him about dicks.” he says with no mercy for Byleth who is starting to get Sylvain’s point and getting embarrassed about it. Must be impressive to not feel threatened by that look, anyway. Clearly, Sylvain doesn’t mind it. “Come on, don’t be shy.” Sylvain teases him “And you more than anyone else should know how much of a gentleman I can—” “I swear to the Goddess, if you say another word I’m going to kill you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sylvain laughs and, surprisingly enough, Felix sits and crosses his arms while he looks at the kitchen entrance, as if he’s ready to set the </span>
  <em>
    <span>whole</span>
  </em>
  <span> place on fire if Ashe doesn’t come back immediately. Byleth takes into consideration the idea of running away, something he would never do on the battlefield but would gladly do </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, Professor,” Sylvain focuses on him, a smug smile on his lips “let’s have a chat.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>*</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>As he enters the room and closes the door behind his back, Byleth is welcomed by nothing but a dim light thanks to the oil lamp near the bed. Fortunately, he got rid of most of his ‘Archbishop attire’ before joining the dinner, so it doesn’t take long to change in something more comfortable to sleep. He leaves everything on a chair and once he’s at barely one step from the bed he lets himself fall on it. The pillow is so soft Byleth thinks he could just sleep like that. Linhardt, next to him and still with a book in his hands, sounds amused when he speaks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You look pretty exhausted.” he points out. Byleth moves his head enough to turn his gaze to Linhardt and observe him. His hair is untied and frames his face; Byleth likes how Linhardt’s features seem softer at night, when there is nothing but relax and the coziness of the blankets and warmth to share. He’s never been a fan of sleeping a lot, but since they shared the bed for the first time, Byleth changed his mind. There are even (rare) mornings when he’s the one who doesn’t want to leave the bed— it’s because sometimes he doesn’t want to be the Archbishop, but just a former mercenary who (luckily) is unemployed now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He moves his hand, slowly, until his fingers brush against Linhardt’s cheek.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You didn’t join us after dinner.” Byleth replies, not offended but like he missed something despite the good company. Linhardt puts the bookmark in the book and closes it, puts it on the small table next to the bed and then turns, in order to face Byleth. The way a lock of hair almost covers his eye - and the way Linhardt brushes it behind his ear - it’s so cute that Byleth unconsciously smiles. “Caspar is freaking out because of the wedding.” he offers as an explanation “Someone had to help him.” “I don’t know if I should ask what you did to success.” Byleth teases him, or at least that’s the idea. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Linhardt seems to study him for a few moments, but when he speaks again it’s not about Byleth’s sentence “Did you miss me that much?” “I always do.” Byleth replies as a matter of fact and nothing more, without an inch of embarrassment. There are still times when this catches Linhardt off guard, like now. Byleth doesn’t really get why— it’s not like Linhardt isn’t very direct himself. Most of their academy days were spent with Linhardt telling him how interesting he was, how much he wanted to study Byleth and so many other things that never made Byleth think about Linhardt as a shy person. Then all it takes is Byleth admitting he missed him to make Linhardt’s features change in a way Byleth can’t describe but that became so dear to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will never understand how you can be timid with some topics and then tell me these things so easily.” Linhardt says, a small smile on his lips “Was it a good talk?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mh,” Byleth thinks about the last hour he spent with Sylvain doing most of the talk, Felix looking like he had just swallowed a whole sword and Ashe trying to focus on everything else </span>
  <em>
    <span>but </span>
  </em>
  <span>Sylvain’s questions “we talked about the wedding for a bit. Then Sylvain asked if we share intimacy.” he’s not sure if this is how it should be phrased but at least that’s what it was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Linhardt looks amused “And what did you tell him?” “That we share the same room and bed—” he doesn’t even finish that Linhardt is already chuckling. This isn’t totally unexpected but… “and then Sylvain insisted on talking more and explaining to me what he meant. I think that Felix won’t join us for breakfast tomorrow.” he adds with a small, brief and almost unhearable laugh. They never felt the need to talk about those things, not to plan when to do what. If there is something Byleth adores about their relationship is how easily it was for them to have that understanding, how natural it was to simply be with each other, the lack of pressure and expectation. He doesn’t want to change that and, luckily enough, Linhardt feels the same.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, I can’t wait to tease Felix about it.” Linhardt admits, adjusting himself to be a little bit closer to him. Byleth lets him, moving slightly to do the same. “You are one of the few people who want to do it despite Felix always having a sword with him.” “I’m pretty confident that he likes me more than he wants to admit.” he says, quite confidently in fact. Byleth is not sure it’s exactly how things are, but there’s no need to tell him. They both lay quietly, as if they finished all their energy to have a conversation. Yet they slowly move and search for each other, for some skinship; that’s how Byleth’s hand takes Linhardt’s and how, after some more adjusting from him, Linhardt starts to stroke his hair. It relaxes Byleth so much that he almost allows himself to fall asleep— but he doesn’t, he leans into the touch instead and closes his eyes to savor the moment. Byleth doesn’t know if this is the kind of intimacy Sylvain was talking about, but this is okay for him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Linhardt.” “Mh?” the answer comes immediately, nothing more than a small sound very close to him. Byleth opens his eyes, because he wants to look at him when he asks “Do you want to kiss me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Linhardt’s hand stops for a moment, only seconds before he starts moving it again, fingers through Byleth’s hair. “You mean now?” “In general.” “I do. We kissed already, unless you are trying to say that I was hallucinating. Which is not totally impossible, but…” “No, we did.” Byleth assures because they don’t really need to doubt Linhardt’s sanity right now. “But… do you think we don’t have enough intimacy?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not like him to let other people convictions make him insecure, somehow, but he knows that his common sense regarding relationships is… peculiar. Linhardt is quiet and it doesn’t help him to feel less nervous. But then he notices Linhardt coming closer, he feels his lips kissing him, a lingering touch that is soft, and tender, and affectionate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think we are okay. We can take our time, no need to emulate others.” Linhardt whispers as he gives him small kisses— the corner of Byleth’s mouth, his cheek, his chin even, just to make Byleth chuckle a bit. “And I wouldn’t appreciate it if you were more Sylvain-like.” he adds, with the voice Byleth associates to whenever Linhardt is bored enough that teasing others seems a good diversion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are terrible.” Byleth scolds him (pretends to). Linhardt’s hand is still holding Byleth’s, and that’s more than enough for now.</span>
</p>
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